MORE than 100 of Oxfordshire’s most vulnerable children left school without a single qualification, new figures reveal.

Department for Children, Schools and Families statistics show that 125 children with special educational needs did not gain any GCSE passes last year.

Of the 280 children with a ‘statement’ of special needs sitting exams last year, 85 — 30 per cent — failed to pass at least one GCSE, while just 15, 6.1 per cent, achieved the Government target of five A* to Cs including English and maths.

Of the 1,055 other children with special needs, an additional 40 failed to achieve at least one pass.

By comparison, 99.7 per cent of all county pupils gained at least one GCSE pass and 60.3 per cent achieving five A* to Cs, including English and maths.

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Paul Smith said the percentage of pupils with special educational needs achieving less than two GCSEs or equivalent had dropped from 4.1 per cent in 2007 to 2.4 per cent last year.

He said: “We have a countywide approach to improving outcomes for all vulnerable pupils and fully support the emphasis in the new Ofsted framework.

“We have a strong 14-19 strategy focused on supporting schools to develop a curriculum which will enable pupils with SEN to achieve more qualifications.

“This includes collaboration with local headteachers in our success project to create inspiring curriculum models that promote engagement and achievement; to share good practice and to target specific groups.”

Fewer Oxfordshire pupils with special needs managed to gain results at GCSE than in neighbouring counties such as Buckinghamshire, where 92.2 per cent of pupils with a statement of special needs achieved at least one pass.

Mr Smith said: “SEN comparisons with neighbouring authorities are difficult as the composition of the SEN cohort tends to vary around the country, as does the identification of particular types of need.”

Susan Tranter, headteacher of Fitzharrys School in Abingdon and chairman of the Oxfordshire Secondary Schools Headteachers Association, said more children with special needs were being educated in mainstream schools.

She added: “We are proud to be an inclusive school. We have three children with Down’s syndrome, children with cystic fibrosis, and children in wheelchairs and we are proud to offer them a high quality of education.

“They are part of our school community, but it is a steep learning curve for us to be able to accommodate their very special needs.”

She added: “These figures are a disappointment and it is a challenge to all of us.

“However, there are opportunities to develop life skills in Oxfordshire schools for our most vulnerable young people which may not be measured in terms of GCSE outcomes, but do mean they are able to get paid work and live independent lives.”